The present invention relates to magnetic heads, and more particularly, this invention relates to a magnetic head permitting high tape speeds with reliable read verify function.
In magnetic storage systems, data is read from and written onto magnetic recording media utilizing magnetic transducers commonly. Data is written on the magnetic recording media by moving a magnetic recording transducer to a position over the media where the data is to be stored. The magnetic recording transducer then generates a magnetic field, which encodes the data into the magnetic media. Data is read from the media by similarly positioning the magnetic read transducer and then sensing the magnetic field of the magnetic media. Read and write operations may be independently synchronized with the movement of the media to ensure that the data can be read from and written to the desired location on the media.
An important and continuing goal in the data storage industry is that of increasing the density of data stored on a medium. For tape storage systems, that goal has lead to increasing the track density on recording tape, and decreasing the thickness of the magnetic tape medium. However, the development of small footprint, higher performance tape drive systems has created various problems in the design of a tape head assembly for use in such systems.
In a tape drive system, magnetic tape is moved over the surface of the tape head at high speed. This movement generally entrains a film of air between the head and tape. Usually the tape head is designed to minimize the spacing between the head and the tape. The spacing between the magnetic head and the magnetic tape is crucial so that the recording gaps of the transducers, which are the source of the magnetic recording flux, are in near contact with the tape to effect efficient signal transfer, and so that the read element is in near contact with the tape to provide effective coupling of the magnetic field from the tape to the read element.
Also important for reliable data recording is proper alignment of a writer and trailing reader used in a read-while-write data verify operation. As will soon become apparent, such misregistration, which may be caused by transient tape skewing, adversely affects the integrity of the read verify process.
Moreover, many skilled in the art have attempted to achieve the performance and reliability of the disclosed embodiments through routine and even extreme experimentation, but have never been able to achieve such results.
Further, conventional wisdom dictates that a system as disclosed herein would not work due to tape stiffness causing the tape to fly over the trailing module. However, working contrary to conventional wisdom, the inventors have achieved what was previously though impossible.